The following summer we devised a rip current education campaign called ‘Don’t Get Sucked in By the Rip’ and put up posters and brochures all over the mid-north coast location.

Flash rips are often the hardest rip type to spot as they suddenly pop out of nowhere and only last for a very short period of time (sometimes less than a minute). They appear as streaks of white water with clouds of suspended sediments.

This picture was taken on the beach between the towns of Seaside and Marina by Dr. Jamie MacMahan of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. I've been working on rip stuff with Jamie for the last month and he's probably the guru when it comes to measuring rips, not only here, but around the world.

So where's the picture taken? Hmmmmm, could be anywhere in Australia, could be along the Florida Panhandle coast or it could be pretty much any ocean beach in the world with rips. The only problem is, it's actually in Duluth, Minnesota!

It's a good example of a flash rip under high energy conditions. The surf had increased in intensity and flash rips were popping up all over the place. While the rip appeared temporarily as a dark gap between the breaking waves, these rips are very mobile and variable in their appearance.

A recent study by the University of New South Wales and Surf Life Saving Australia incorporated this picture in a questionnaire given to over 400 beachgoers and when they were asked to spot the rip in the picture

If you want to swim at Bondi and don't want to get rescued in a rip, head north to the sets of beach flags in the middle of the beach and at the northern end. Unless of course, you want to end up on Bondi Rescue.

The most dangerous aspect of this rip is that it looks like the safest place to swim...and it's not.

These pictures were taken from the relatively new Q1 Tower at Surfers Paradise. Whereas most skyscrapers are in the middle of big cities and often all you see is smog, this one is unique as it's RIGHT ON THE BEACH and the views are incredible.

Bronte Beach is a great beach, but it is also considered to be one of the most hazardous beaches in New South Wales, mostly because it almost always has a rip on the southern end called "The Bronte Express".

The rip picture(s) this month shows another rip in New Zealand, but in contrast, the beach in the top photo looks perfectly safe. Hot Water Beach is a famous tourist destination in the Coromandel Peninsula because at low tide, natural hot springs bubble up through the sand to the surface. It all begins with an idea.

Welcome to my new Rip of the Month feature! Let’s see how we go with this, but to start off here’s a picture of one of the biggest rips I’ve ever seen.